Simple Advice

If we have spiritual wisdom, it has to show itself in our daily living. 301 You get rid of bad habits by bringing in good habits which will force them out…. 241 If you want…

Our Emanation Bodies

At the time I wrote that small book [The Miracle of Mindfulness], I could not have imagined the effect it would have in the world. It has been translated into twenty-five languages, reprinted many times,…

Open Your Eyes

 Untold opportunities arise in one’s householder existence to practice sadhana. –Sri Anandamayi Ma, in Joseph Fitzgerald, The Essential Sri Anandamayi Ma: Life and Teachings of a 20th Century Indian Saint There is no time or place…

Instagram, Shminstagram

Central to the private life of the Taoist is the art of concealment. In Taoism, to conceal does not mean to be aloof and disengaged. Rather, it means not to dazzle or make ourselves the…

Go to Hell

“Keep you mind in hell, and despair not.”  –Staretz Silouan, 1866-1938, quoted in Gillian Rose, Love’s Work:  A Reckoning with Life Ksitigarbha … made the great vow to go into the hell realm so that…

Long Live Detachment

Those who follow the path of service renounce their selfish attachments, and work with the body, senses, and mind for the sake of self-purification. The man whose consciousness is unified abandons all attachment to the…

Harvard Joke about Jesus

“A fine teacher, but didn’t publish.” –Quoted by George Steiner, in Lessons of the Masters, p. 33. Steiner observes, “A cardinal definition of genius points, I believe, to the capacity to originate myths, to devise…

The Outgoingness of the Heart

In no Chinese poet’s works does compassion for human suffering play so large a part. The works of his maturity — the ballads, satires and petitions- — are largely grounded on pity, and even at…

Choosing Guiding Means

A few years ago I read Amos Oz’s trenchant book, How to Cure a Fanatic.  His context was the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Therein, Oz noted that “the essence of fanaticism lies in…